Page 41 of He Who Sleeps

He let out a soft chuckle as their breathing evened out and then he sighed, pulling out of her and stepping back, letting her legs drop down so she could sit up on the edge of the table. "I guess it's time," he said, sounding sad, even with the modulator, and she noticed that his hands were shaking as he raised them to his head to undo the straps of his mask. When he finally pulled it away, his striking grey eyes were full of pain and at first she didn't realize why, but then she noticed the scars. The front of his face was unblemished, but starting an inch before his hairline, his skin was a mass of shiny pale scar tissue.

Gods...what he must have gone through. Though it didn’t matter to her. He was her Plague, and she was already half in love with him. Instead of addressing it, because something told her he wouldn’t welcome it, not until he was ready, she decided to move forward. “Hi.” She bit her bottom lip, fighting the urge to reach for him. “I don’t think we have met. I mean, you don’t only know me from in here?” She smiled. “I know the rest of the guys in some way in the outside world, so how do we know each other?”

"Maybe hearing my real voice might clue you in," he told her, something hopeful in his expression.

She nodded, recollection rolling through her at the deep, sexy timbre, one that when she had heard it, over the phone on an almost daily basis, made things stand up and take notice. Carter, the Animal Control officer she had never met from Philadelphia County. He was her personal hero. What he did for the animals, from closing down fighting rings to sending litters to them from those rings. She knew he was also part of a dog rehab, to help those animals that were exploited. Gods, she loved him for what he did, and now knowing he was her Plague?

“Carter,” she breathed. “My sexy-voiced hero Carter.” She did reach out then and pull him closer. “It’s you...”

"Your hero?" He looked shocked at that, but let her pull him in close. "I thought you'd be annoyed that I make so much work for you guys."

She shook her head. “Every life you save, every time you stop these assholes, you are my hero, Carter, because you care for those smaller than yourself.” She cupped his cheek and giggled. “All the girls at the shelter fan themselves when you call because, well, you sound hot as fuck.” She grinned. “Good to see that sentiment is true.”

"I'm not hot." He pulled away from her. "The Dark God did what he could, and the scars fade every year, but I still have mirrors and two eyes."

“Don’t believe me then, but it’s still the truth.” His face was rugged, full lips she was dying to kiss, bright beautiful eyes, slashes of black for eyebrows, strong jaw and nose. She bet he was beautiful when he smiled. The scars? Personally, she liked them. They just enhanced the sexy dude that knew how to play her body like a violin. “Now, will you kiss me, Carter? Please?”

"Only since you asked so nicely." He captured her mouth in a passionate kiss and swept her up in his arms, almost crushing her body to him, and she understood then how much her acceptance of his scars had moved him. One day she would ask about them, but now? Now was for kissing her hero.

Chapter 17

Dawn was less thantwo hours away. Carter had sent her off after a few more kisses to her room, and a shower, and there was a robe waiting for her, plush and fluffy with a note to go to the last room on the left, which she knew was Neon’s room.

She padded down the hall, intent on seeing her last lover, though sad because he was the last. And while she did know who they all were now, she didn’t know where things were going to go after the sun rose, and how things would sit now that she knew.

Oh, she knew she would be discreet with them, and she would keep their secret, always, but leaving them in a few hours...it didn’t feel right. Damn it, forever felt right.

Opening the door, she found Emerson, because his mask was on the bedside table, waiting for her in a pair of very thin sleep pants. “Right on time,” he said before she was in his arms and he was carrying her to the bed.

“Different...” she said as he deposited her with an oof.

He smiled. “I’m trying something different,” he said and shucked his pants, crawling up on the bed to her.

“Oh?” She smiled, enjoying watching how he moved toward her, all controlled violence and grace. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but warning bells were not going off in her head so, trust was still the word of the day.

Reaching her, he smiled as he looked her over. “Seeing you at my mercy is a powerful thing, and it does things to me, but seeing you here, soft, willing and bright, it’s doing something else to me. I got to thinking before, what would mutual pleasure do for both of us...”